'88 Monte Carlo SS w/ LY6 6.0 swap
06-26-2017, 11:15 PM
#101
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Location: Illinois
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Applied some Eastwood rust converter which will be followed by seam sealing and undercoating. Also painted some of the smaller parts like the bumper shocks and the gas tank straps while I have them out.
Installed the brake lines I picked up from Inline Tube. I purchased the new lines before I had decided to pick up the new boxed frame so I have a bit of a fitment issue along the rail in this pic. Not sure how I will address this yet? Lines fit well otherwise.
Came across a pretty decent 4th of July sale (2016) over at Spohn. Upper/Lower a-arms, front-end rebuild kit, and single adjustable coil-overs for front/rear. So Christmas in July
Removed front sway bar, rear lower trailing arms, and rear sway bar to clean them up and paint. Doing the same for most parts before I swap to the new frame.
July-August 2016 update...
Removed most parts from the original frame including the front suspension, brakes, rear end/suspension, etc. Spent a good deal time refreshing parts that will be put back to use.
Mostly used VHT Epoxy paint here. So far it's been real easy to work with. Originally I was using Eastwood Chassis Black but, it was a little finicky and didn't turn out well on a few parts (most likely user error.)
Felt pretty good to start installing parts onto the new frame! Started with the rear end. I re-used the Hotchkis upper and lower trailing-arms, Installed new SS brake lines, and new QA1 rear coil-overs.
Up front I got the upper and lower a-arms installed along with the QA1 front coil-overs.
On a roll and got some more done. front suspension is complete after I finished installing the a-arms, front-end rebuild kit, sway bars front/rear, and most of the brake lines. I feel like it's starting to resemble a car again!
Keeping momentum and got the motor/trans swapped over to the new frame!
Rolled the factory frame out for the first time since 1987. Sprayed the underbody with about 4 cans of 3M undercoat. #3 and #4 mounts were a bit crunchy on the body side but, there seems to be enough metal left to re-install without modification.
Also, got some other odds n' ends done; stubborn driver-side motor mount bolt finally installed, started fitting the factory cross-member, and started to run the fuel lines.
A little closer to mating the body back to the frame. Rolled the chassis under the body to get everything aligned for the drop. Found the gas tank and the the custom frame bracing may interfere with each other so I dropped the tank. Also, took the crossmember out and notched to accommodate the dual exhaust. Going to try my hand at welding in some reinforcement with my little HF welder.
Installed the brake lines I picked up from Inline Tube. I purchased the new lines before I had decided to pick up the new boxed frame so I have a bit of a fitment issue along the rail in this pic. Not sure how I will address this yet? Lines fit well otherwise.
Came across a pretty decent 4th of July sale (2016) over at Spohn. Upper/Lower a-arms, front-end rebuild kit, and single adjustable coil-overs for front/rear. So Christmas in July
Removed front sway bar, rear lower trailing arms, and rear sway bar to clean them up and paint. Doing the same for most parts before I swap to the new frame.
July-August 2016 update...
Removed most parts from the original frame including the front suspension, brakes, rear end/suspension, etc. Spent a good deal time refreshing parts that will be put back to use.
Mostly used VHT Epoxy paint here. So far it's been real easy to work with. Originally I was using Eastwood Chassis Black but, it was a little finicky and didn't turn out well on a few parts (most likely user error.)
Felt pretty good to start installing parts onto the new frame! Started with the rear end. I re-used the Hotchkis upper and lower trailing-arms, Installed new SS brake lines, and new QA1 rear coil-overs.
Up front I got the upper and lower a-arms installed along with the QA1 front coil-overs.
On a roll and got some more done. front suspension is complete after I finished installing the a-arms, front-end rebuild kit, sway bars front/rear, and most of the brake lines. I feel like it's starting to resemble a car again!
Keeping momentum and got the motor/trans swapped over to the new frame!
Rolled the factory frame out for the first time since 1987. Sprayed the underbody with about 4 cans of 3M undercoat. #3 and #4 mounts were a bit crunchy on the body side but, there seems to be enough metal left to re-install without modification.
Also, got some other odds n' ends done; stubborn driver-side motor mount bolt finally installed, started fitting the factory cross-member, and started to run the fuel lines.
A little closer to mating the body back to the frame. Rolled the chassis under the body to get everything aligned for the drop. Found the gas tank and the the custom frame bracing may interfere with each other so I dropped the tank. Also, took the crossmember out and notched to accommodate the dual exhaust. Going to try my hand at welding in some reinforcement with my little HF welder.
06-26-2017, 11:15 PM
#102
On The Tree
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Illinois
Posts: 100
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
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Jun 2017 update:
I was over-thinking what would be more easily done with the body in the air so I decided to go ahead and drop the body back to the frame.
Lowered it down slow and steady
I got an awesome tip from our friends over at Gbodyforum and lined everything up pretty easily utilizing the alignment holes near the driver-front #2 mount position and the passenger-rear #7 mount position as seen below
driver-front #2 mount position
passenger-rear #7 mount position
Measured in several places, mostly along the rockers and it came out pretty straight without much fuss.
Also made some time for the more tedious stuff and cleaned up/painted the core support. Even got into the headlight hardware and brackets.
Took advantage of another day of nice weather and got some more done. Replaced the brake hose at both front wheels as the old ones stripped out, in addition to being old and tired.
Also started moving around the car trying to remember what needs to be reconnected now that the body and frame are back together. Tightened down the brake booster and reconnected to brake pedal (which was the worst part of the day.) Re-connected the steering shaft, re-hung the fenders, and started running the existing wiring around the engine bay. Thing's starting to look like a car again!
Also started locating and fitting swap parts. I'll likely stick with the LY6 truck accessories as they fit pretty well.
I was over-thinking what would be more easily done with the body in the air so I decided to go ahead and drop the body back to the frame.
Lowered it down slow and steady
I got an awesome tip from our friends over at Gbodyforum and lined everything up pretty easily utilizing the alignment holes near the driver-front #2 mount position and the passenger-rear #7 mount position as seen below
driver-front #2 mount position
passenger-rear #7 mount position
Measured in several places, mostly along the rockers and it came out pretty straight without much fuss.
Also made some time for the more tedious stuff and cleaned up/painted the core support. Even got into the headlight hardware and brackets.
Took advantage of another day of nice weather and got some more done. Replaced the brake hose at both front wheels as the old ones stripped out, in addition to being old and tired.
Also started moving around the car trying to remember what needs to be reconnected now that the body and frame are back together. Tightened down the brake booster and reconnected to brake pedal (which was the worst part of the day.) Re-connected the steering shaft, re-hung the fenders, and started running the existing wiring around the engine bay. Thing's starting to look like a car again!
Also started locating and fitting swap parts. I'll likely stick with the LY6 truck accessories as they fit pretty well.
